WSOP Online Poker Room Review

The WSOP brand owned by Ceasar’s Entertainment Corporation, is one of the oldest and most prestigious in poker. Initially, the idea was to create a championship event that would draw players from across America to Las Vegas. Now it is a worldwide event that draws thousands to the Rio every year to compete for a prestigious WSOP bracelet (and lots of cash!). Simply winning a WSOP bracelet catapults you into an elite group of poker players. Now only is the new WSOP online poker website offering access to the well-known brand to residents of New Jersey and Nevada from the comfort of their own homes, it is also heavily involved in qualifying people into live WSOP events every year in Las Vegas. If you want to qualify for the WSOP and take a shot at winning a bracelet, then the WSOP online poker room may be the place for you!

The online poker industry in the US has taken a major hit in recent years due to the passage of the UIGEA and the subsequent crackdown on payment processing for online poker providers. Last year, however, due to re-interpretation of federal laws, along with technological advances allowing websites to verify their users’ physical locations, several states, including New Jersey and Nevada, have actually legalized and regulated online poker within their state’s borders. It comes as no surprise that Nevada and New Jersey, home to the famous Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos, were the first states to take advantage of legalized online poker, and what better brand to use than the famous WSOP.

WSOP Poker Bonus and Promotions

The WSOP, hosted each summer at the Rio All-Suite-Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, offers 65 live tournament events over the course of a month and a half in every variety of poker game you can imagine, each one offering the coveted WSOP bracelet for the first place winner. You can buy in to many events for as little as $1,000, or you can participate in the famous million dollar buy-in Big One for One Drop Event. Some other big events include the $25k buy-in, 4 day Mixed-Max event, the Poker Player’s Championship, which is a $50k buy-in, 5 day event covering most every variety of poker in one tournament, and of course the $10k buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, with a guaranteed first place prize of $10 million. There are plenty of satellites running at the Rio throughout the tournament, where you can try to win a ticket to a WSOP event, as well as on many online websites, including, of course, WSOP.com.

WSOP.com is currently offering a $10 welcome bonus to new players from New Jersey who register for an account. The new player bonus is simply deposited into your account upon registration- no deposit or bonus code required. You may use the $10 on the website however you please within 30 days (when it becomes invalid), however, you cannot simply withdraw it. When you decide you are ready to deposit real money into your account, until the end of 2014, WSOP is offering a 100% welcome bonus up to $400 that will be released in $10 increments as you play real money games. You have 60 days to clear the bonus before it expires.

If you are looking to build your bankroll from scratch, WSOP.com offers a $100 Daily Freeroll tournament at 7pm EST, where the top 20% of the field wins actual cash prizes. The tournament is open to anyone, but it is capped at 600 players, so make sure you register before the tournament fills up. There is no poker bonus code required for the Daily Freeroll. When you make a real money deposit of at least $10, you will receive an email invitation to a $1k Welcome Week Freeroll, which runs Saturdays at 2pm EST. There is also a $1500 Freeroll and a $10k WSOP Main Event ticket freeroll that you can earn your way into by fulfilling certain requirements throughout the month- details can be found on their website.

The WSOP.com VIP program in New Jersey is based on the accumulation of Action Player Points, which are earned by playing in real money cash games or tournaments. In ring games, the points are earned at a rate of 2 APP’s per dollar of rake collected, and you earn based on your contributed portion of rake in the hand. For tournaments, you can earn 2 APP’s for each dollar in fees paid. The more APP’s you earn, the higher your tier level in the VIP program, and the higher your tier level, the greater your multiplier for converting your APP’s to WSOP points. WSOP points can be traded in for cash at a rate of $.01/WSOP point. You are also granted access to exclusive tournaments based on your achieved tier status.

Payment Methods

WSOP.com doesn’t offer as many transaction methods as other online sites, however it shouldn’t be a problem as they do offer the major deposit methods of Neteller, Bank Transfer ACH, Mastercard and Visa. Please note, however, that Neteller and Bank Transfers are the only methods with which you are able to withdraw your funds from your account. At the moment, you are unable to make deposits/withdrawals at the brick and mortar Ceasar’s properties, however, they are hoping to make this option available in the near future.

Anyone over the age of 21 and physically in the state of Nevada or New Jersey is eligible to play on WSOP.com. Creating an account is simple and straightforward. If you are unsure how to download the software, click on the “Get Started” tab on the website and you will find instructions, along with pictures detailing exactly what to do to properly download the software. Follow the onscreen prompts to register your account, and either start playing with your $10 welcome bonus or freerolls right away, or click “Deposit” to choose a payment method to start playing real money poker right away.

The WSOP Software

The customer support at WSOP.com seems to be a little lacking when compared to other online poker websites, mainly due to the lack of live chat or a customer support phone number for immedaite help with urgent problems. They do, however, have an extensive “Help” page, with frequently asked questions on topics ranging from technical issues, deposit/withdrawals, bonus and promotions, games, login, and registration, so most issues you might have should be addressed on that page. If not, they do have a “Contact Us” button where you can send an inquiry via email if need be.

The security at WSOP.com is in line with the industry standard, where data submitted is safe and secure, and cards are dealt using a random card generator. If you have three failed attempts at logging into your account in any given time frame, you will be emailed a “token” which you must use, in addition to your username and password, the next time you attempt to log in. The token with only be valid for 3 hours before it expires, and a new token will need to be sent. You will also be emailed a token anytime you submit a withdrawal request, for extra security to ensure that you alone are able to withdraw the funds from your account.

The cash games at WSOP.com run from the lowest of stake-levels, $.01/$.02 all the way up to $3/$6 for No-Limit, $2/$4 for PLO, and $10/$20 for Fixed Limit Hold’em as well as Omaha Hi/Lo. Multi-table tournaments are offered every 15 minutes at WSOP.com, though not all begin due to a lack of participants. The MTT’s offered are all No-Limit Hold’em, and the daily guaranteed tournaments all offer re-buys and add-ons. The biggest tournament of the week, however, the $215 buy-in $15k guaranteed, does not allow either re-buys or add-ons. Sit & Go’s are offered in both 6-seat and 9-seat No Limit Hold’em games, with buy-ins starting at $1.10 and going up to $55.

Texas Hold’em is the game’s most popular form, where each player is dealt two private “hole” cards, which he uses to try to make the best hand along with five community cards. No-Limit is the favorite variety because, as the name implies, there is no limit to the bet sizes and the large pots make the game very exciting.

Omaha is quickly gaining popularity in the poker world as well, especially among those who get a thrill from gambling. In this variation, each player is dealt four private cards, and has to use two of them, along with three of the five community cards, to make the best hand. Because of more cards being in play, the game can be quite riveting, and a higher quality of hand is usually required to win the pot.

7-Card-Stud is a more traditional form of poker. In this variety, each player is dealt two face down cards, followed by four face up cards, and finally a seventh card face down. There are no community cards, and the winner must make the best five-card hand out of his own seven cards.

Summary

The WSOP brand has been a well-known and well-trusted brand in the poker world for decades, and now they have launched an online app to match their live reputation. Now that they are fully regulated and legal in the states of New Jersey and Nevada, why not enjoy the experience of the WSOP from the comfort of your home, and while you’re at it, take a shot at winning a ticket to the actual WSOP in Las Vegas!